NS4276 : The channel of the Overtoun Burn
taken 14 years ago, near to Bellsmyre, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Most of the low area to the right of the channel would formerly have been part of an ornamental lily pond (which also served as a dam for a domestic hydro-electric scheme – see the last-cited link for details), but the water level there has dropped considerably in recent decades.
This was one of the earliest examples of a hydro-electric scheme producing power for domestic use: in around 1892, the occupant of Overtoun House, John Campbell White (soon to be created Lord Overtoun), had a turbine house built to provide electricity for his home. See Link for more on Overtoun House. The ruins of the turbine house are located beside a waterfall called Spardie Linn – Link – on the course of the Overtoun Burn. Water was impounded further up the burn in a dam, which doubled as an ornamental lily pond. The dam is fed by the Overtoun Burn, whose channel, just upstream of the pond, can be seen to have been artificially straightened; the remains of a sluice gate are visible there.
